Re: [Paddlewise] hammocks/ledges

I field-tested a sleeping ledge with a built-in tent for my employer a couple of years ago. Propably the most comfortable sleep I've ever had in the outdoors, plus a great "tree-house" feel that takes you back to your childhood. I toyed with the idea of getting one, since it would have been great for those areas where salal makes setting up a tent impossible. I even had visions of extreme West Coast sea kayaking, where you'd come into a sheltered but unlandable cove at high tide, place a couple of "Friends" (spring-loaded climbing protection) into cracks, suspend your ledge, tie up your boat, and camp til the next high tide. What brought me down to Earth (metaphorically only, fortunatly) was the sheer packed size of the unit. A frame that's strong enough to take the tension required to make fabric "solid" is heavy steel, and doesn't fold any smaller than a golf bag. Ah, well, still a good idea, once it can be made to pack small.

Hanging around in Vancouver,

Philip Torrens 



>From: "Bob Hume" <bhume_at_micronet.net>
>To: PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net
>Subject: [Paddlewise] hammocks
>Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 17:20:48 -0800
>
>Sleeping across the long axis of a hammock would require a 
>very wide hammock and a different way of sheltering it.  A 
>variation on this theme I've thought about off and on is using a 
>sleeping platform big wall rock climbers use.  It is basically a 
>rectangular frame made of aluminum poles with a nylon fabric 
>bed and that is suspended from a single point.  Think of a cot 
>with no legs and hung from above.  This could be hung from a 
>tree, and an appropriate tent or skeeter netting attached.  It 
>would take some customization, but could avoid the problem 
>of no dry, level ground.  Haven't considered the weight or 
>packability, but they can't be too bad if they are used on 
>climbs.  Might want to guy it down some so it doesn't swing 
>too much in the wind.  Cost isn't cheap or ghastly - $200 - 450 
>depending on features. 
>
>-- Bob Hume 
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N49°16' W123°08' 


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